Footballer of the year: Pandev wins in Macedonia

The Nerazzurri striker wins the award for the 5th time thanks to his achievements with Inter

MILAN - (UEFA.com) Goran Pandev, the F.C. Internazionale striker, and Martin Bogatinov, the FK Rabotnicki goalkeeper, have been elected footballers of the year in ERJ Macedonia.

Pandev, who is 27-years-old, beat the competition of the 1.FSZ Mainz 05's left-back NikolÄe Noveski and of Dynamo Kyiv's left-back Goran Popov, to be elected the best Macedonian footballer based abroad according to the regional associations of the ERJ Macedonian F.A., the experts, the journalists and the fans. The Inter striker, who is the captain of the national team and holds the record for the most goals with 23 in 56 caps, won the award for the fifth time after having won the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup with the Nerazzurri. Pandev opened the scoring in the final of the last competition which ended 3-0 for Inter over TP Mazembe.

Pandev had already won the award in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, but was not at the ceremony in Skopje due to illness. Instead the national team coach, Mirsad Jonuz, collected the award on his behalf and declared: "By becoming European and World champion, Pandev has made it into the history of Macedonian football, I wish him to win many more trophies in the future."